New Delhi, Dec. 21 -- Indian spy films have traditionally relied on loud background scores and heroic musical cues to underline action and patriotism.

'Dhurandhar', directed by Aditya Dhar, takes a markedly different approach. The film treats sound as a narrative device rather than an emotional shortcut. Music, dialogue and silence are carefully arranged to reflect the inner life of its protagonist and the moral cost of covert operations.

One of the film's most discussed sequences is the showdown between Hamza and the goons of Arshad Pappu's gang where Bappi Lahiri's 'Rambha Ho' plays. The choice is deliberately unsettling. A song associated with glossy 1980s Bollywood plays against modern tactical violence, creating a dissonance that f...